Ghost Hunt: Fox Fire
by Fernin
Summary: Mai Taniyama is looking forward to a nice, relaxing summer vacation.  Unfortunately, a new investigation has brought the diminished SPR team into conflict with ancient forces.  And soon the job takes a bizarre turn which may change Mai forever...
1. Chapter 1

**Ghost Hunt: Fox-Fire: Part 1**

Fan Fiction by Fernin (yay alliteration)

_Note: This work, unlike most of mine, contains no explicit nudity, no sex, and no profanity. It does, however, include some violence, mostly of a non-graphic nature. So if you get offended by PG movies, this is probably not for you. Otherwise, Read on, MacDuff. Oh, and I don't own Ghost Hunt. Obviously._

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><p><em>The bell's silvery, tingling tone cut through the mists. It rang once, jingling faintly in the gloom. After a short pause, it rang again. There was another short pause, and the bell rang for a third time. The sound continued, regular as a heartbeat—which, of course, is what it ultimately was. Mai Taniyama shivered, trying to get some warmth out of her school uniform as the bell continued to chime.<em>

_Mai stared at the small hump of raised earth before her. Something seemed horribly wrong about it. The ringing of the bell came from within, almost reminding her of sleigh bells… but the silver peals seemed more terrible than cheery. _

_It should have startled Mai to see Kazuya Shibuya standing next to her, but it seemed natural. He turned to look at her, dark eyes full of anger. Although it couldn't quite drown out the bell, the young man's voice cut across its ringing. "This is stupid. It's wrong."_

_Looking at the hillock and back at Naru, Mai shook her head. Her voice faltered as she tried to ignore the incessant ringing of the horrible bell. "No. It can't be wrong. It has to be done. There is no other way."_

_Kazuya laughed nastily, his cold face twisting into a tortured mask of a smile. "You think so?_ _Listen to it._ Listen to that cursed bell _and tell me that it's all right. He should have listened to me."_

_The sound of the burial mound's bell seemed louder as Kazuya spoke. Mai turned back to the low, earthen mound again. She struggled to keep herself from retching at the sight of the awful thing. Something was wrong with it… very wrong. The ringing was slowing now, and the clinging mists surrounding the hill and the two watchers began to close in._

_As the chime continued to falter, Mai looked to Kazuya for support—but he was gone. She was alone in the gray fog with the brown hillock and the awful, faltering sound of the bell. The ringing became irregular… slower… and suddenly stopped with a faint jingle. Mai screamed—_

—And sat up in bed. Her alarm clock was going off. She groaned and swatted blearily at the stupid thing until she succeeded in shutting off the annoying beeping. In the hard-won silence she shivered. What an odd dream she'd had. Something about it seemed strange to Mai but it was fading now as she blinked sleep from her eyes.

Oh well… if the odd dream had been important Mai would have been able to remember it, right? Besides, she had more important considerations right now, because—Mai grinned—"It's summer vacation!"

For the next hour or so, Mai was a whirlwind of red-brown hair and youthful teen enthusiasm as she dressed and readied herself for the day. Aaaah, it was _so _nice not to have to worry about getting to school on time today! This was going to be great!

Mai grinned at her reflection in the mirror as she brushed her hair. She had so much time on her hands! She could take her time and get a good breakfast, and then drop by Shibuya Psychic Research and see if Naru—ahem—if _Kazuya Shibuya_ had any jobs for her. Hopefully not for a little while… it would be nice to be able to enjoy her vacation for once. Preferably on a beach.

Pausing in her brushing, Mai sighed and kicked herself mentally. It was no use. She'd been _trying_ to train herself not to call Kazuya "Naru," but the nickname just fit the narcissistic, distant cutie to a tee. At least now he wasn't giving her dirty looks for using it, so maybe he'd accepted that being called "Naru the Narcissist" was his lot in life. Well it would _help_ if he wouldn't _be_ that way all the time, but obviously that was too much to ask, hah…

Hmm, now what to wear… Mai had tried on the third outfit before she realized that she was primping enough to be going on a date. Geeze, it wasn't like she and Kazuya were… She caught sight of herself in the mirror. Was she blushing at the thought? She frowned at herself. "Mai, you're _hopeless_."

The prospect of a leisurely morning was interrupted as Mai's phone bleeped—_ "you're so vain… You probably think this song is—_" Mai grabbed it up quickly and the custom ringer shut off. As she'd thought, it was from Kazuya. How like him. The text was a terse, "Job soon. Be here by 0830. Pack some clothes."

That was less than an hour from now. And she'd been hoping for some real time off this week, too. What was _with_ Kazuya? Mai ground her teeth as she finished getting dressed. At this rate she would NEVER get used to his… his… "Argh! No more Mrs. Nice Mai! He's Naru! Naru, Naru, NARU!"

Kazuya—er, Naru—was his usual cold and collected self when Mai tromped irritably into the offices of Shibuya Psychic Research. He didn't so much as acknowledge the girl's presence, focusing instead on one tome among the huge pile of books on the table. After a momentary pause Mai cleared her throat noisily.

With exaggerated care Naru marked his place in the book and looked up. "You're late. We needed to get an early start."

Oh, how nice. Naru had given Mai so little time that she'd had to grab the first thing off the rack in her closet just to get here almost on time. So now she was wearing her school uniform. On what was supposed to be a vacation. Mai kept her building anger in check—mostly with a heavy dose of sarcasm. "Oh _I'm sorry. _I'll tell the trains to come faster next time. What do we need to get such an early start for, anyway?"

Naru handed Mai the printout of an email and went back to reading. Mai read the page. Hmm. Well, maybe this would turn out to be a nice vacation after all. "The Sea of Trees? I've never even heard of this place. So we're going to the beach?"

The look Naru shot Mai was… well, annoyed was a nice word for it. "We have a long drive ahead of us. Lin mostly packed the van before he left, so there are just a few things left for you to load."

Mai followed her boss' gesture to a huge pile of equipment boxes and felt her spirits sink. Some vacation this was going to be.

After what seemed like hours, the final box thudded into the back of the van. Surprisingly, Naru had started helping after the first few boxes—although he'd made some pointed remarks about some people not pulling their weight as SPR employees. Jerk. Mai wiped her brow and sighed. "Well, that was fun…"

Naru climbed into the driver's seat of the van and noticed Mai staring at him. "What? Get your bag and let's get going; we're barely going to make it before nightfall as it is."

"But you… doesn't Lin normally drive the… what about…"

Rolling his eyes, Naru made shooing motions with his free hand and started the van with the other. "Didn't you listen? Lin is visiting family in China. It's you and me. And I have a special license. Get your stuff and we'll go."

Wait. If Lin was gone, that meant that Mai would be… alone in the van with Naru? She felt a little flutter in her chest at the thought. Was fate playing games with- Naru's irritated comments broke through her reverie. "Mai Taniyama, stop standing there and _get in the van_."

With everything finally packed and both teens in the van, the slightly reduced Shibuya Psychic Research team started on their journey. The only sounds came from the bustle of the streets outside and the quite hum of the van's engine. After a few blocks, Naru guided the van onto a ramp and they merged into the thick traffic of the expressway.

Seconds turned into minutes, and still Naru said nothing. His gray-blue eyes were on the road, and his hands firmly on the wheel. Mai looked sideways at her young employer. Wasn't he going to talk at all? She hadn't realized how much her social life with the various psychics and paranormal experts came from the _other_ people in SPR's line of work. Maybe… maybe Naru was waiting for her to say something? Boy, this was awkward. "Uh… so what job are we going to?"

Naru kept his eyes on the road. "You loaded those books, right?"

"How could I forget? My shoulders are _still_ sore…"

The driver took one hand off the wheel just long enough to wave dismissively. "Then you have what you need. Read them. We'll have plenty of time on the drive."

Yeesh. Mai fumed silently and grabbed one of the books. The book smelled musty, and its yellowed pages crackled slightly as Mai began to read. "The Sea of Trees…"

As bland as it was dry and dusty, the book slowly picked its way through history. It focused on the events surrounding a remote and desolate tract of land that had once served as a highway and repeated battleground in Japan's warring, blood-soaked past. Mai yawned. This was heavy reading. She blinked away sleep and kept going.

There seemed to be no end to the fighting. Entire villages were picked clean of everything—grain and meat for the travelling bands of warriors and brigands, men for raw recruits, women for… ew…

Mai yawned again and shook her head to clear it. Something about the long and uncomfortably quiet van ride was sending her right to sleep. All right, back to the reading.

It was almost a relief when, according to legend, a vast and mysterious tangle of trees sprouted up virtually overnight. It was as if some god, tired of the weeping of departed souls, and reached out and unrolled a vast green carpet—a sea of trees—across the land. Suddenly, the bloodthirsty warlords found their paths to conquest or retreat blocked by a nearly impenetrable wild wood. And when… they attempted… to… pass…

_The twisted, unnatural trunks of the trees stretched out of the mossy ground like the grasping fingers of an exhumed corpse. Vines and hanging moss dangled from gnarled branches, exhausted from fruitless attempts to climb into the forest canopy to drink in life-giving light._

_Under the light-devouring layer of leaves, the Sea of Trees seemed simultaneously claustrophobic and infinitely large—like a maze inside some vast mausoleum with moldering remains around every turn. The air was dead, with only the faintest whispers of a breeze sliding slowly around the rough bark of the motionless trunks._

_Through the twisting confusion of leaf-strewn paths stalked Mai Taniyama. Her steps were silent—the forest seemed to drink in the quiet crunching of leaves and dried moss under her feet. She smiled as she moved quietly through the wood, catching sight of her prey at least. The woods filled with an ethereal blue light._

_Out of breath, the man turned and gasped. It was Naru, his face twisted into an almost unrecognizable rictus of pain. The blue nimbus surrounding Mai glinted in Naru's gray-blue eyes. He raised his arms defensively, crying out as the fabric of his sleeves began to smolder. "No! Get away from me!"_

_Mai found herself laughing as she stepped nearer to Naru. His skin was starting to redden from the heat as he took a few steps back. Mai growled happily and came closer still. After all, didn't Naru deserve it? Of course he did. The angry girl flared a brilliant blue-white. The ethereal light was so bright that it bathed the maze of trees and paths in brilliant blue light and jet-black shadow. Above it all, Mai could hear the steady, silvery jingle of a bell. _

_His clothing erupting into flame where the brilliant light touched it, Naru turned to run. Mai gathered her strength and—_

—woke up. She blinked her eyes blearily. The red-orange hues of sunset were smeared across the darkening sky like the flames of a distant fire. Mai stifled a yawn and looked around.

The van was parked. Uh oh. She must have fallen asleep while reading… Mai rubbed her head, trying to remember the details of the dream that had seemed so vivid moments before. Something about fire, wasn't it? And the forest was in it too, right? Mai shivered, thinking of the horrible, claustrophobic feeling of the woods. It was almost like being buried. At the edge of consciousness, she could almost hear the sliver chime of a bell.

Mai shrieked and nearly fell out of her seat in the car when Naru's fist thudded against the side of the van. He looked at her with his usual condescending half-smile. Probably relished the chance to make her jump. What a jerk! "Oh good, you're awake. Come help me unload the vehicle."

Struggling to move her sleep-stiffened limbs, Mai climbed out of the car and stretched. Where were they? It seemed like the middle of nowhere. A far cry from the closeness of the Sea of Trees in her dream, this place seemed almost _too_ open. Save for a decrepit two-meter wall next to the van, there was open space all the way to the edge of the forest about a half-kilometer away.

The sight of the forest—it was the edge of the Sea of Trees, Mai was sure of it—gave her the chills. She turned back to the wall she'd glanced at before. Wherever this was, it was in the middle of nowhere. The lengthening shadows grudgingly revealed a run-down house inside the crumbling perimeter wall.

Just how far away from civilization _were_ they? Mai looked back. The van was parked at the edge of the winding, disused gravel driveway that must have stretched for kilometers to the nearest paved road. She could hear crickets singing out from every shadow, and the entire area seemed innocent of any electric lights. "Wow. This _is_ the middle of nowhere…"

With a creak, the van door opened and Naru grunted meaningfully as he pulled out the first box. Mai sighed and turned to help her boss unload what seemed like unnecessary tons of gear into the decrepit house.

Amazingly, the additional weight did not break through the floor of the house or bring the whole structure down. Run down though it was, the surprisingly sturdy building held up even though it creaked oddly and when Mai least expected it—much like her back from all the abuse it had been taking. By the time she was done unloading the gear into a single room of the house, her nerves were jangling and her muscles ached. Lin was clearly some kind of superhuman to be able to do this on a regular basis.

On the bright side, with all the gear unloaded it would be time to go, and none too soon for Mai's tastes… Wherever Naru had picked for them to stay, their living accommodations had to be better than here. Far from city lights and away from electrical power for the first time in her life, Mai was almost shocked by how dark it could get. For the last hour she and Naru had been working using battery-powered lamps and the light of the van's headlights.

Mai was just wandering back to the house to look for Naru when the cough and roar of a small gas engine made her jump. As she looked around, dim yellow lights flickered into life in select areas of the decrepit old house. Oh, _no_. He wouldn't.

Dreams of a reasonably soft bed in an affordable hotel room somewhere were rapidly dissolving in Mai's imagination as she re-entered the house to find Naru carefully wiping engine oil off his hands with a rag. The young man was stifling a yawn as Mai entered, but quickly turned it into a cough when he saw her. It was almost as though he felt embarrassed to be seen as a normal human. "Welcome back."

Mai started to bristle at Naru's tone. What, had she been taking a nice walk around the house instead of lugging all these heavy boxes in? Before she could form a satisfying response, her boss continued. "What did you think about the case information?"

What case information? Oh. _Oh._ It was Mai's turn to feel embarrassed. That's right, the case information that she had been reading during the drive… that she'd probably drooled on when she fell asleep after less than an hour of reading. "Uh… That is…"

Naru's smile was warm and would almost have been disarming if Mai hadn't known him better. "Yes, I know. You seemed tired during the drive so I let you sleep…"

Was Naru actually being _nice_ to Mai for a change…? Mai felt her hopes flutter.

"…After all, you're taking the first shift after we finish setting up the equipment. You can finish reading then."

Oh. Mai sagged. "No way…"

Naru continued relentlessly, ignoring his employee's half-hearted protest. "But to get you started, the realty firm that owns this land is convinced that some sort of spirit lives here."

A fleeting image of a maze-like, strangling tangle of trees and the guttering light of unnatural blue flames flickered in Mai's head. "Ghost fires… and attacking people in the Sea of Trees…"

"Good, you remembered _some_ of what you read. From what Mr. Karasu described, the phenomena could be anything—we'll need the full range of instruments for this. Here's a map of the property; put the sensors at the locations I've marked." Naru tapped his still slightly oily finger on the crisp paper of a hand-drawn map.

Mai could feel her muscles twinging again in anticipation of further abuse. Oh good, the full range of instruments. That meant normal cameras, thermals, night vision… in short, it meant that Mai's sore back wasn't going to be getting much respite for at least another hour. Why did she put up with this kind of treatment? There should be a law. Pouring as much sarcasm into her words as she could, Mai asked, "And where will you be during this, Naru?"

Naru was already at the door before he bothered to answer. "I'll be setting up the second generator and the van as our temporary base until you finish here. If I'm asleep when you get done, wake me and we'll move the base equipment to this room. Run all your cables back to here."

Watching him walk slowly down the steps, Mai was surprised at how exhausted Naru seemed. He _had_ driven for most of the day to get here, true… Or maybe she was just making excuses for him. Again. Suddenly angry with herself, Mai turned to the task at hand. She scrutinized the makeshift map.

To be honest, makeshift was an inaccurate description. Mai marveled a bit at the precise lines that covered the fancy stationery. Whoever these guys at 'Karasu Realty Ltd' were, they certainly knew their way around a pen. It was obviously hand-drawn, but could have been a blueprint, so carefully did it depict the house and grounds.

According to the map, the house was laid out in a very traditional style—which wasn't surprising, considering how old everything looked. Thankfully, most of the sensor sites were within easy reach of this room. The others, unfortunately, not so much. Several were completely on the opposite side of the grounds. Ugh. Well, might as well get the ones inside the house first.

By the time she'd set up the fifth and final in-house sensor package, Mai was ready for a break. She collapsed gratefully into a folding chair. Thank _goodness_. At this rate, it might take her all night to get the sensors set up. Maybe now was a good time to do some of that reading she was supposed to be doing. It would give her muscles a chance to relax, at least.

Mai grabbed the first book on top of the pile helpfully left by Naru. She made a face and discarded it. That was the same book that had put her to sleep the last time. Instead, she picked up a more recent report from the prefecture's forestry commission. Unfortunately, it seemed even less interesting than the history book on the area.

The report had little in the way of excitement. Instead of lurid descriptions of strange events, apparently supernatural sightings, and the like, page after page of the document provided statistics on missing persons in and around the nearby Sea of Trees. She came across several hand-scribbled notes or highlighted sections left by Naru.

Hmm, that seemed a bit more interesting. Naru saw something in the numbers and dry reports that the commission obviously hadn't. Disappearances occurred day and night, without regard for time of year—despite very large changes in the number of people thought to be entering the forest. Careful notes by Naru referenced another report—helpfully next in the stack.

This paper was a bit more what Mai had been expecting. It was filled to the brim with reports of spectral creatures, ghost light, and unnatural blue flames. A thoroughly used map was tucked into the folder with the document. On it, Naru had marked out the approximate location of every sighting. They formed a roughly circular pattern of dots… and at the center was a large "X." Naru had carefully written "BASE CAMP" next to the mark.

Mai felt the hairs on the back of her neck rising. It wasn't that she had realized that she was at the center of the sightings. Instead, something seemed oddly familiar about the stories. She should be able to remember it, if she could concentrate for a moment. The exhausted Mai yawned and massaged her temples, trying to focus. She was so tired, and after all, there was that stupid ringing bell… Wait, what bell?

With a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach, Mai realized that a soft, silvery bell had been jingling away for several minutes, just on the edge of consciousness. She checked the screens that she'd unloaded—but of course, they weren't hooked up yet. The dark screens mocked her with their inscrutable blank readouts. The bell rang again, repeating its melancholy song with unnerving regularity.

The quiet bell finally jogged Mai's memory. The dreams! Of course, the dreams… That's why the reports had seemed so familiar. Were her latent powers picking something up again? It couldn't be a coincidence.

Mai stood up, nearly jumping out of her skin as her folding chair clattered to the floor. She had to tell Naru! She had to get to some working instruments. More to the point, she had to get away from that awful, gut-wrenching bell. Picking up the folder, Mai turned to go.

The move brought Mai face-to-face with a foxfire. She froze. The glowing wisp of flame flickered in the air as it moved closer. Mai's breathing quickened and she took a step back. The ringing of the bell was getting louder.

Escape directly to the van was impossible. The door outside was blocked as more blue, insubstantial flames floated in the door and began to coalesce into one towering pillar. Mai didn't wait to see what would happen next. With a cry she turned and ran deeper into the house, papers from the report fluttering behind her as she dropped the folder.

Desperately Mai scrambled to get some distance between herself and the chasing column of ethereal fire. With that _thing_ on her heels, there wasn't enough time to use a warding chant. If only she'd had some kind of warning…

Mai turned left at the end of the hall and stopped short. The doorway here had already collapsed. There was no way through. She turned to run through another door, but it was far too late. With the jingling, silver peals of the spectral bells ringing in her ears, Mai looked up to confront the almost man-sized blue flame.

The very air should have seared Mai's lungs. Her skin should have crackled with the intense heat of the blue flame—but she could feel only a cold breeze as the combined foxfires floated towards her. May held up her hands defensively. "N-no! Get away! _Naru! HELP!_"

Lurching forward, the flame engulfed Mai—and suddenly winked out. The deafening bell was gone. The horrible blue flame was gone. Mai was left panting and alone in the darkness of the decrepit old house. She sagged with relief. What… what had that been about?

Whatever it was, Mai definitely didn't want to hang around and find out. B-besides, Naru would want to know about it, right? Not to mention that seeing another person—even Naru—would go a long way towards calming her nerves right now. She took a shaky step back down the hall and toward the van.

The next moment Mai froze as she started to hear a faint, jingling bell. She started to walk a bit faster, looking around quickly to spot any pursuing spirits. There was nothing there. Except… something seemed off. She felt… wrong somehow.

Mai nearly screamed when her whiskers brushed up against an unnoticed piece of debris jutting out from one wall. She whirled, expecting to be attacked at any moment. Whew, it was nothing. Just a bit of wood from one of the supports that had fallen down; she could see it clearly in the dim light of the hallway.

Wait a minute. 'Whiskers?' And how was she seeing in what should have been almost pitch black night? Mai looked down. This time, she _did_ scream. A thick layer of orange-yellow fur was quickly spreading to cover her pale skin. The flesh underneath writhed and twisted, at war with itself for its very nature.

Mai tried to run, but the unfamiliar new sensations from her body made her stumble and nearly collapse to the ground. She moaned and braced desperately against one wall as her face distended suddenly. Bone moved and stretched like wax in a flame, stretching and growing until the human girl's face was a narrow, triangular muzzle tipped with a wet black nose. Her heartbeat thundered loud in growing scoop-like ears that slowly rustled through the flailing girl's hair towards the top of her head.

The tails were the final straw. Mai screamed again in confused terror as tail after tail sprouted and whipped, tentacle-like, from the base of her spine. The white- and orange-furred new appendages lashed behind her, mirroring and amplifying her anguish. "Naru! Anyone! _Help_!"

With a near-inaudible _whoomph_, Mai burst into flame. Blue fire, strangely cool to the touch, licked across her twisted and transformed body. In seconds, Mai was completely engulfed in a melancholy blue glow. Aflame, she batted desperately at the fire. It was no use. Despite the fact that there was no pain, and Mai herself didn't seem to be burning, everything else did. Acrid wisps of smoke rose from her uniform, from the walls, the floor—anything she touched.

Mai staggered down the hall, awkward on her new paws and nearly blinded by the light of her own flames. Lit by the glowing touch of the moaning, fur-covered furnace of a girl, a trail of greedy yellow and orange followed the former human like the glowing tail of a meteor.

By the time Mai reached the 'base camp' room, it was already ablaze. The fire seemed to draw back as she approached, politely getting out of the way of her hesitant, stumbling steps. Still crying incoherently for help, Mai stumbled to the doorway. She could easily see the van in the light provided by the fires she'd started.

The sight of a familiar object gave Mai new hope that the world had not gone completely insane. She stepped onto the cool gravel of the path. The blue flames engulfing her faded with each step to a faint, banked aura of fire around her naked fur. She felt exhausted. Everything ached—even parts she hadn't had ten minutes before.

Mai was just about to call for help again when she ran muzzle-first into a cold, hard wall of nothingness that surrounded the van. She grunted in pain and fell backward, landing heavily on her tails. With a final moan and a half-choked cry for Naru, Mai blacked out. The nimbus of flames flickered and died, leaving the fox-girl lying motionless on the ground.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ghost Hunt: Fox-Fire: Part 2**

Fan Fiction by Fernin (yay alliteration)

_Note: This work, unlike most of mine, contains no explicit nudity, no sex, and no profanity. It does, however, include some violence, mostly of a non-graphic nature. So if you get offended by PG movies, this is probably not for you. Otherwise, Read on, MacDuff. Oh, and I don't own Ghost Hunt. Obviously._

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><p>Surfacing from a dream of flame and terror, Mai opened one eye groggily and started to sit up. Her alarm clock was going off. She groaned and swatted blearily at the stupid thing. Her arm waved in the air for several seconds as she repeatedly missed touching the cabinet and the jingling, silver-belled alarm clock. In annoyance Mai forced her eyes completely open. That alarm clock was going to feel the back of her… paw.<p>

Memories of the past night came crashing down on Mai like a bucket of ice-cold water. She gasped and looked down, then shrieked in dismay. With a flurry of movement she buried herself in the rickety cot's blanket until only the tip of her nose showed. How had she gotten here? More importantly, why was she naked and who had—was something burning? She could smell something burning.

An unseen but strangely comforting hand clasped Mai's blanket-swathed shoulder. Naru's voice intruded on Mai's panicked thoughts and brought them to a screeching halt. "Mai. Calm down, now. You're going to set the van on fire."

Blue flames had been rising from under the blanket. As Mai got a grip on herself, the fire suddenly disappeared. The black-tipped fox nose turned towards Naru and snuffled at his hand for a moment. Mai's voice, understandably a little tense, came from under the blanket. "N…Naru? Is that you? What… what happened?"

Naru hesitated. Mai could smell concern and confusion rolling off her boss. It made her smile a bit despite the strangeness of the situation. He didn't know. He could hide his thoughts all he wanted, but _now_… Naru cleared his throat and with unusual solicitude asked, "How do you feel?"

"I'm… I'm not sure. I _think_ I feel fine, but… I… How do I even know? I don't even know what I _am!_" Mai's voice started calm but finished with a despairing wail. The blanket began to smolder again.

Naru shook Mai's shoulder. That didn't work. His voice hardened. "Mai! _Mai_. You're going to calm down. I didn't carry you in here so you could set fire to the van, too. You're in enough debt as it is for destroying the house and all that equipment."

Mai could smell that Naru meant it. She steeled herself and forced down the tears—and the fire—once more. Then a thought occurred to her. Wait… if she'd collapsed outside and Naru had carried her in here… and all her clothes were gone… Under her fur, Mai began to flush cherry red. Somehow she managed to keep control of herself. There were things to worry about right now. Important things. "Uh… Naru… could you get me my bag? I need to get dressed…"

It took a few moments before something soft and cottony flopped onto the cot near Mai's feet. "There," Naru said. "I'll be outside."

After listening to make sure he left, Mai peeked her vulpine head out from under the blanket and peered around the cramped rear compartment of the van. Everything seemed slightly insubstantial, as though she could peer right through it. Perhaps she could now; who knew?

Mai crossed her eyes and looked down the pointed length of her muzzle. This was bizarre. Her ears twitched in irritation. No time for this now. She had to get dressed. Mai felt like if she actually sat down and thought about what had happened to her, she might start screaming and never stop. Now, what had Naru left out for her?

The blue hospital gown sat there on the cot where Naru had dropped it. He had to be kidding. She raised her voice a bit so that it would carry outside the van to her waiting boss. "Uh… Naru? Where are my normal clothes?"

Naru finally answered after a short pause. She could hear the bleeping of his phone as he muttered under his breath about signal strength. Finally, he responded. "You'll get them back when you learn to stop burning things with your foxfire."

Jerk. Still, he was probably right. Groaning to herself, Mai crawled out from under the blanket and was able to see herself clearly for the first time. A soft, thick coat of fur covered her from the tip of her triangular ears to the dark claws of her toes. She looked somewhat like a cross between herself and a fox. If only she had a mirror.

At least the hospital gown—why did Naru even _have_ something like that—had one advantage, if you could call it that. Thanks to the way the flaps closed in the back instead of the front, Mai's nine fluffy tails could wave freely. They were doing so now, moving with a mind of their own yet somehow in tune with Mai's thoughts and emotions. Concentrating, she found she was able to get them to stop moving at all beyond counter-balancing her as she moved. But when she stopped focusing on them, they began moving and weaving on their own once more.

Maybe that wasn't _all_ Mai could control. Raising one paw, she thought hard about fire. Nothing happened. She tired harder. Again, nothing happened.

Naru hammered on the van door. "Are you done yet? We have tests to run."

Mai yelped in surprise. A gout of blue flame engulfed her hand and scorched the ceiling of the van. Just as quickly, it went out. Whoops. "Y-yes, all ready now!"

The back door to the van opened and Naru stepped in. He wrinkled his nose and looked around. "Did you set something on fire again?"

Laughing nervously, Mai lowered her paw. "What? No. That's crazy. No, not at all… Hey, what's that thing?"

Naru was carrying a silly-looking contraption of wires attached to a metal hat that looked almost like a mad electrician's rendition of a pasta strainer. Naru looked at it, then back at the kitsune girl. "We need to run some tests on you. Come on, back to the house. The part of it that you didn't burn down, that is."

Wincing at the barb, Mai followed her boss to the burned out remains of the house. Surprisingly, much of it still remained although the tang of charred wood was thick in the air. A western style wooden chair that escaped the flames was sitting next to a laptop computer perched atop some kind of electronic cabinet on wheels. At Naru's direction, Mai sat carefully in the chair, her yellow-orange tails twining and waving in confusion like the tentacles of a puzzled octopus.

"Hold still." Mai folded her ears down as the metal hat—it _was_ a colander! She knew it!—plunked onto her head. Lights on the surface flickered and the entire thing seemed to hum as Naru flipped some switches on the wiring-entangled cabinet.

The faint buzzing was making Mai's head swim. She shifted uncomfortably, her tails roiling behind her and brushing against the charcoal-streaked wall. "Uh, Naru? What does this thing do?"

Naru didn't answer. Instead, he stared intently at the screen, clicking keys occasionally on the keyboard. Even with the aftermath of the fire clogging her nostrils she could pick out faint whiffs of his interest… and growing annoyance. Finally, he closed the laptop with a snap and shut down the machine.

Mai tried to still her tails and cleared her throat nervously. "Well…?"

"Congratulations, Mai. You found the spirit we're looking for, and neutralized it in a very… interesting way. It's a good thing you have as much ESP as you do, or else I wouldn't be talking to you right now... I'd be talking to the kitsune that's possessing you. Come on, we're going into town." Naru got to his feet and dusted ash off his hands.

Kitsune..? How did a kitsune..? How did Mai's ESP..? ARGH! Didn't that narcissistic ass ever explain _anything?_ Mai snatched the ridiculous hat off her head and got to her feet. She hurried after Naru, her claws clicking on the blackened floor. "Wait! What about-! Naru, I can't let anyone see me like this!"

Leaning out the driver's side window, Naru eyed his furry employee with faint amusement. "Kitsune are supposed to be able to take human form. Your clothes are in the back. The drive will take about forty minutes; see if you can figure it out before we get there."

The vehicle started, and away they went. Mai sat in the back of the van, fuming as she concentrated and concentrating as she fumed. She stared at her pointy, orange-furred face in the small compact mirror from her bag. Somehow she had managed to get re-dressed in her normal clothes—no thanks to Naru's driving or her uncooperative tails. She felt almost human again. Now, if her body would just cooperate by _looking_ that way too.

What was Naru thinking, just taking her into town like this? Mai gritted her sharp new teeth and kept trying to meditate on looking human, but she didn't have any idea how to do it. Plus, her mind kept drifting back to that idiot in the driver's seat. Without the moderating influence of other paranormal investigators—and even Lin—Naru was getting to her even more than usual.

Mai's ears twitched as she heard a soft metallic sound. It was almost like a bell. Her heart quickened and she looked around quickly. Had that been…? It had. The bell jingled again. Where was it coming from?

A quick flicker of movement caught Mai's eye and she looked down… into her compact mirror. The face in the compact mirror peered up at Mai, but it seemed different somehow… possibly because Mai didn't have glowing eyes and wasn't grinning toothily at her reflection. At least, she didn't _think_ she was. The reflection face shook its head in apparent disappointment. Mai recoiled in surprise. "What the..?"

The bell jingled louder and Mai squirmed uncomfortably as her flesh began to crawl and change. She stopped staring at the mirror and looked down at herself. She was changing back! In a moment, the thick fur and nearly autonomous tails were gone. Mai stared at the mirror again, but her reflection was nearly the one she had always had, with a few changes. Her face seemed sharper somehow, with higher cheekbones and a narrower, almost predatory look. If she looked closely, she could see some fine orange hair on the tips of her slightly pointed ears. The ringing of the bell faded.

Mai stared at her hands for a few moments, flexing them experimentally. They _looked_ normal enough. Cautiously, she checked under her blouse—and groaned. There was still a faint but visible layer of fur under her clothes, giving her body a slight orange tint. Her clothes rubbed uncomfortably against the fur.

Well, it had worked, but only just. Mai shivered a bit, remembering the utterly inhuman face in the mirror. Was the fox spirit controlling her, somehow, beyond twisting her physical form? Something moved in the mirror again, and Mai shut it before she was tempted to give it a good look. She didn't want even to think about that.

Naru actually seemed relieved when Mai climbed forward and into the passenger's seat. He tried not to show it, but Mai found her senses—especially smell—were still surprisingly acute. "So, you managed it. Good, we're almost there. Here's a list of things we need. You can join me at the Karasu Realty office. They're in the red brick building at the end of the street."

Mai was about to ask which street, but then the town came into view and she realized why he hadn't. Calling the tiny collection of structures a town was dignifying it far beyond its actual size. It probably wasn't even on a map.

The tiny number of people in the town should have made things better for Mai. After all, fewer eyes were watching her as she stepped slowly from the van, feeling as nervous and exposed as if she was strutting through downtown Tokyo in the nude. Oddly, though, the few townsfolk made things worse—there were fewer eyes, but they were all focused on the newcomers—on _her_.

A small dog barked from a fenced-in yard near the side of the road as Mai picked her way cautiously towards what looked like a small general store. She clutched tightly at the list and walked inside.

It was like stepping back in time. Instead of a well-lit store with tiled floors and row upon row of conveniently packaged products, Mai was confronted with a cramped but somehow cheery room with jumbled goods piled high. A smiling old lady behind the counter waved. "Good morning! How can I help you?"

Mai smiled and waved back, then consulted her list. "Well, let me see…"

The old woman—it turned out her name was Maki—bustled about the bedlam of a store, helping the confused Mai navigate the jumbled of merchandise and Naru's scribbled shopping list. As the two pile the counter high, Maki rambled on about, well, everything. It was all Mai could do to keep afloat in the torrent of words.

"It's so nice to see a young couple visiting our little old town… We don't see too many these days. Will you be staying long?" Maki put a case of bottled water on the counter and consulted the list again.

Mai shrugged. "I'm not really sure… And what do you mean, 'young couple?'"

"You and your young man—the one driving the van. He stopped here yesterday evening to ask directions to that horrible old place. You aren't really thinking of buying that place, are you? Mr. Karasu may be a silver-tongued, jovial old thing, but don't be deceived. I can't imagine why he took that land in the first place, for all that he is buying up everything he can in this area… It's haunted, you know."

Haunted? Really? Gee, Mai hadn't noticed. She picked up a few packages of batteries and put them on the counter. "Er, no ma'am. We're just looking."

"Well you wouldn't catch _me_ going there. There's some kind of cursed tomb there. Well, they _say_ there is, at least…"

Mai's ears pricked up—literally. She struggled to keep them from rotating to listen more closely. "A… cursed tomb? And who's 'they?'"

"Oh, yes. People say all kinds of things about that place… and about the forest. Of course, that's what the boys from the logging companies say, and they do so love to talk about all sorts of things when they come into town. They think they're scaring me, of course. I've lived next to these horrible woods all my life, but it would be rude of a kindly old shopkeeper not to play her part." The 'kindly old shopkeeper' laughed knowingly and tapped her temple.

Mai carefully bagged up some of the purchases. "Of course. Uh… what kind of things do they say?"

Looking around carefully as if to catch any eavesdroppers, Maki leaned in close and lowered her voice. It seemed the 'boys from the logging companies' weren't the only ones who enjoyed telling scary stories. "Well… They say that in the past few years, some of the lumberjacks cut down a few too many trees and angered the spirits in the Sea of Trees… Or that an ancient seal was broken. Or perhaps the planets have just aligned in the heavens. No one's really sure. But however it happened, the Sea of Trees has begun to devour people…"

Hairs started to rise on the back of Mai's neck, and beyond. She could feel a ridge of hidden fur standing up all the way down her back. In her mind's eye, she could see herself chasing a man with Naru's face in one of the misty, half-remembered dreams she'd had over the past few days. She tried to keep her voice from shaking. "D-devour people?"

Gratified at her audience's reaction, Maki nodded and continued. "Oh, yes… People go in, and they don't come out. Not alive, at least. Most are never found. The ones that are… well, it _looks_ like an animal got them, but who can say? I'm just an old shopkeeper. But they say…"

"Y-yes?"

"They say that the local forestry stations have a special room for the bodies they find… and a special bed for one of the rangers to sleep in the same room with the dead. Because if they don't…" Maki trailed off menacingly.

Mai leaned closer. She didn't really want to know the answer, but she felt almost compelled to ask it anyway. "What happens?"

"Well, I hear they don't like to be left alone, you see… So if there's no one in the room with them… Late at night… That the bodies SCREAM, AND SCREAM, AND SCREAM!Ha ha ha ha—ooh, are you all right?" Abruptly Maki was speaking at normal volume again. She might as well have shouted as Mai jerked backward with a yelp.

Bracing against the counter, Mai sucked in air. The old woman certainly knew how to tell a ghost story. "Fine. I'm… I'm fine. You just startled me, is all."

"I'm terribly sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. Things aren't as bad as all that. Don't mind an old shopkeeper and her stories. But—you and your young man should be careful, won't you? With the accidents of the last few years, it seems like more and more of the old timers in the village are pulling up roots… or pushing up daisies, of course. Even some of the old logging families…" Maki paused, lost in thought for a moment.

Then, the moment was over. The shopkeeper sighed and got back to business. She clicked away on a cash register that was probably even older than she was. "Will there be anything else? Do you need any help with all this?"

"No, no, that should be all." Mai struggled with the bags and carried them out to the van.

With the shopping done, that just left the rendezvous with Naru at the Karasu Realty office. A story taller than the squat structures of the village and made of imposing red brick, the office was easy to spot. After locking up the van, Mai trotted down the street toward it.

Mai was nearly halfway there when some sixth sense made her pause. Someone was watching her… or something. She glanced around, but nobody was there except for a rather stupid-looking Akita. The creature had been wagging its curled tail as he peeked over the fence beside the road. Now, though, the wagging had stopped. The big dog was staring at her and sniffing. Mai found herself taking a step back. "Uh… nice doggie?"

A low, rumbling growl started in the Akita's throat as it stared at Mai. In the Akita's tiny dog brain, processes were slowly clicking along. He couldn't believe it. How could a giant fox be just waltzing down the road in broad daylight past his master's yard? This would not stand. He growled louder.

Heart beating faster by the second, Mai took another step back. It—it was just a dog; she didn't need to be frightened of it...

The Akita's low growl suddenly rose and terminated in sharp, deep-throated bark. The big dog gathered itself and leaped over the fence, landing squarely in the road. He barked again.

Enough was enough. Mai wheeled around and started running back toward the van, the Akita hot on her heels. Lungs burning, she sprinted away from the pursuing canine. Why was he chasing her? What was—oh [i]_no_[/i]. He could probably smell what she was!

Willing herself to run faster, Mai streaked down the street, trailing wisps of smoke and blue flame like a flailing, multi-limbed comet. Fur was spreading out from under her smoldering clothing as she fled. The buildings seemed to rise higher as she neared them, and with a quick puff of fire she picked up speed. She shrank and landed on all fours, still running out of the disintegrating cloud of ash that had been her clothes.

It wasn't until Mai was nearly at the vehicle that she realized that she was running on all fours up to a van the size of a house. Without realizing it, she'd transformed completely into a small, multi-tailed fox. She made the mistake of looking back.

The Akita loomed behind Mai, galloping after her and seemingly the size of a bear. He barked again, opening wide a maw filled with sharp, drool-coated teeth. Mai whined in fear and darted under the van, covering her eyes with both forepaws.

Barking and snarling, the Akita tried to jam his nose under the van. Mai could feel his hot, fetid breath as he panted and gasped, trying to reach her. She whined again between panting, gasping breaths and slid back a little more underneath the frame.

Still the horrible dog would not give up. Mai stared in horror as the Akita started to slide under the van. Escape wouldn't work. She tried to focus. Blue flame flickered around her fur, but went out as another basso growl broke her concentration.

Mai scrunched her eyes shut and tried again. _Foosh!_ A gout of blue flame shot from the nimbus surrounding her small form and singed the snarling Akita right on the muzzle. He yelped in pain, straightened, and banged his head on the bottom of the van. Another burst of fire sent the dog scrambling backwards. Mai could hear his paws scrabbling against the pavement as he hurried away, yelping in fear and suffering. Served him right.

The cool pavement felt good. Mai lay flat on it, waiting for her thundering pulse to slow down. She wheezed, each gasping pant rasping in her throat as she gradually got her breath back. She never wanted to do that again.

Listening carefully, Mai waited in her hiding place. She hoped no one had seen her or, if they had, that no one had seen her as _her_. At least, nobody was coming over to peer cautiously under the van. The kitsune crawled slowly out from under the vehicle and checked for any watchers.

Praying that there would be no witnesses, Mai strained her mind again and felt herself stretch and swell. Joints popped and cracked, and in a moment she was back to her slightly more humanoid form. She wrenched open the van's door and hurried into the back, closing it behind her. Phew. Now she could turn back and… Oh. Right.

Mai hefted her packed bag, so recently filled with several changes of clothes. It was distressingly light. In the past day she'd burned through—ha ha, how clever, only not—all the ouftits she'd brought with her. The naked kitsune girl looked down at herself. The fur left little to the imagination, but somehow it seemed less indecent this way than being naked in her faux-human shape. Bemoaning her misfortune, she curled up in the slightly singed blanket and waited for Naru to return.

Minutes passed, and still no one approached the van. Mai yawned. As before, the use of her strange new abilities left her feeling drained. She yawned again, showing rank upon rank of sharp canine teeth. No, she couldn't go to sleep now… She had to… wait for… Naru…

_The silvery-toned, intermittent jingle of bells made Mai look up. A kindly and wizened old man looked down at her. He smiled, patting her head. She squirmed in pleasure as he scratched behind her ears. The bells on his wrist jingled with every movement of his arm. Mai felt horribly sad, as though she were losing a friend. She _was_ losing one—her best in the world. She shrugged off further affection and stared up at the man in the monk's robes. "But why do you have to do this? Surely we three are enough together!"_

_Shaking his head sadly, the old man frowned. "No, little one. You two may last forever, but I cannot, not as I am. Sokushinbutsu is the only way."_

_A derisive laugh made both Mai and the old man jump. Naru approached, sneer on his lips. "You're a fool, old man, starving yourself to death like this. Even if this works—and it won't—do you think the village will thank you? They'll forget all about you."_

_The old man shrugged. "I do not need remembering. I have you two to do that. What is important is that they are safe for all time."_

"_Safe from what? Their own dull stupidity? They should have known not to live in a place like this! Of _course_ their lot is hard when they live on the armies' road!" Naru gestured widely to the vast, open plain in the shadow of the distant mountains._

"_They shall not do so for long. Come, help me into my home, my friends. The process has already begun. Soon, I will be able to protect them."_ _The old man leaned heavily on Mai as she lent him her shoulder. He seemed so light… so frail_. _Mai looked for Naru to take the old man's other hand, but he stood at a distance._

_Naru practically shook with rage. His hands clenched and unclenched. His face was a ghastly red mask of rage. "So the ungrateful villagers must be protected, monk? Protected against their own stupidity? Would you even protect them against your friends? Against me?"_

_The monk was climbing down into a yawning black pit. He shook slightly as he lowered himself, the sliver bell on his wrist jingling as he struggled against his weakened body. He looked pleadingly through milky eyes, returning Naru's angry glare. "Please don't be angry. Keep the dying wish of a frail mortal, old friend. The village must remain safe. Even… even against you."_

"_I won't help you waste what is left of your worthless life," Naru spat. There was a flapping of many wings, and he disappeared._

_Mai turned to go after him, but the gnarled hand of the old man grasped at her foot. "Little one, please… stay with me a while. Help me finish… what I have started."_

_Blinking back tears, Mai nodded. "Y-yes, of course…"_

"_I will not fail. But if I do, you must carry on. Keep the villagers safe. Let there be at least one spot of light in this blood-soaked world." Having said his piece, the monk fell silent. Reaching up with nearly skeletal hands, he grasped the lid to the large earthen pot in which he stood._

_Carefully, she helped to seal the old monk in his earthen tomb. When the lid clinked shut, she could barely hear his muffled thanks. All she could hear was the ringing—the steady, rhythmic ringing of the bell. Choking back sobs, Mai started to push dirt over the hole, leaving only a small space for the air reed leading to the blackness of her friend's tomb._

_When she was finished, she looked up to see Naru watching her. He too had tears in his eyes as he said—_

"If I didn't know any better I might think you _enjoy_ being a fox, Mai."

Mai's eyes snapped open. She was curled up in a fetal position on top of the blanket, her tails curved around to cover her like a thick, furry quilt. She looked up to see Naru smiling wanly at her and yelped in embarrassment, her tails moving quickly to recover lost modesty.

"Naru! I… a dog chased me," Mai finished lamely. Her ears drooped a bit.

"Well… Never mind. Here. I thought you might need some of these…" Naru held out a bag full of clothing.

Blushing under her fur, Mai accepted it. Naru had gone shopping? For her? She felt a frisson of excitement and pleasure to see what he'd gotten… her… ew. She made a face as she pulled out well-worn jeans and musty old shirts. Even a hooded sweat shirt that had probably been stylish when it was made… in the 1980s. "Oh… Thanks, I guess…"

"I was hardly going to spend a bunch of money on something you're going to set on fire, was I?" Naru responded tartly to the less than explosive outpouring of gratitude.

Mai couldn't argue with that. So instead, she changed the topic. "Sorry…. So, how did the meeting with our client go?"

Naru closed the back to let Mai get dressed in privacy and climbed into the driver's seat. He started the engine before responding. "It didn't. He was supposed to be there, but he wasn't."

"Oh. Well- Naru! Someone's coming." As soon as her sensitive ears had picked up the sound of footsteps, Mai ducked out of sight in the back of the vehicle. There wasn't time to change back; she wasn't even completely dressed yet. She pulled the blanket over her head and concentrated on keeping her tails still.

From the sound of footsteps, Mai could tell that someone had approached the van. There was a sharp rap on the window, and then the whirr of the electric motor as Naru opened it. "Mr. Karasu. I didn't expect to see you here."

"A thousand pardons, Mr. Shibuya. A land deal came up and my presence was absolutely required. I hope my secretary was able to provide you with what you needed?" The newcomers voice was reedy and nasal. Mai could imagine the man as a short, red-faced little creature with a long nose and an ill-fitting suit. She stifled a giggle at the image.

Naru shifted the vehicle back into park. "I'm afraid not, Mr. Karasu. You see, I was more concerned with _telling_ you something. Due to an… unfortunate accident with some of our equipment, we have damaged part of your building. Of course, Shibuya Psychic Research is more than willing to make compensation for damages on the—"

The man clapped Naru on the shoulder. "Not at all, my dear boy, not at all. I would be bulldozing that area anyway once I'd gotten to the bottom of this pesky spirit business. If only the locals weren't so superstitious, I could to it right now. I certainly don't need that decrepit old structure; the land's worth far more without it. Do as you need to. Why, I wouldn't mind if you burned the whole place down, if it will convince the workers that the area's spirit-free!"

"I'll keep that in mind. Was there anything else, sir? If not, I need to get back to the base site. Feel free to visit us there any time." Naru began to roll up the window.

"No, nothing else. And please, allow me to show some confidence in you. I have no need to see the site to know you are working your hardest. Drive carefully, Mr. Shibuya." The man stepped back and Naru put the vehicle into gear and started to drive away.

Curiosity getting the better of her, Mai carefully peeked out the rear window of the van as they drove away. Just like she'd imagined, the client was a small, portly man in an ill-fitting suit. She chuckled at the sight of him waving happily at the receding van.

Mai blinked, and for a moment, reality took a vacation. In place of the short real estate agent was a tall creature in loose green clothes. It leered evilly as it waved, dark eyes glinting in malice and its disgustingly long nose jutting out like a gesture of insult at the entire world. _Tengu…_ Mai grabbed her stomach, feeling nauseated.

Just as quickly, the image was gone. Once again, the short, cheery little man waved until he was out of sight. Mai rubbed her eyes. Had… had she just seen that? And what had it meant?


	3. Chapter 3

**Ghost Hunt: Fox-Fire: Part 3**

Fan Fiction by Fernin (yay alliteration)

_Note: This work, unlike most of mine, contains no explicit nudity, no sex, and no profanity. It does, however, include some violence, mostly of a non-graphic nature. So if you get offended by PG movies, this is probably not for you. Otherwise, Read on, MacDuff. Oh, and I don't own Ghost Hunt. Obviously._

* * *

><p>After a few attempts to return to human form, Mai gave up and simply stayed as her furry, hybrid self. Thankfully the roads were empty, so no one was around to notice a giant, vaguely human-shaped fox in the van's passenger seat.<p>

The ride back to base was relatively quiet. Mai passed the time being grilled by Naru on what had happened in the village, from the talkative merchant through the embarrassing chase by that stupid Akita. When the rumors about the haunted house that was SPR's base came up, Naru looked thoughtful.

As the van slowed to a stop, Naru turned to Mai. "It's time to put your ESP abilities to work at something other than suppressing that kitsune that's possessing you. We're going to do some dowsing."

"Dowsing? What for?" Mai climbed out of the vehicle, plucking in annoyance at the unfamiliar clothing. Big surprise, having nine tails made it a bit awkward to wear her jeans correctly.

Naru dug through a compartment in the side of the van and pulled out a small box. "We're going to try to find that cursed grave. We've spent this entire case in the dark, and I'm getting tired of it. That stops now. Come on."

Mai watched with interest as Naru spread out a map on the ground. It was somewhat more crudely drawn than the precise lines of the map that had burned during Mai's little accident, but it clearly depicted the house and grounds around them. Naru handed Mai a piece of string with a weight on the end. "Here. Hold this over the map. Close your eyes and let the weight swing. Concentrate on finding that grave."

Something seemed wrong about all this. May hesitated. "I… I'm not sure I can do this."

"Of course you can. Come on, Mai. We need to find that grave." Naru already had a shovel in hand out of another part of the van's kit. Geeze, he was prepared.

Mai's ears twitched. Just at the edge of hearing, she was sure she could pick up the sound of a tiny, jingling bell. She looked at Naru, her tails waving uncertainly. He nodded encouragingly. The bell rang again. Setting her jaw, Mai tried to ignore it. "All right."

The little weight swung back and forth as Mai moved her arm slowly over the flat surface of the map. Something seemed to draw the pendulum forward, and her arm with it. She stopped and opened her eyes. The pendulum was swinging in a tight circle around a spot just a few feet away. She felt relieved. "Here, I think."

Naru was already in motion. Taking a quick look at the map, he walked briskly to the spot and began to dig. And dig. And dig. After thirty minutes, he came back and stared at the map, then back at the respectably sized hole. He thrust the weighted pendulum back at Mai. "I should have hit something by now, but the ground seemed undisturbed. Try again."

Still ignoring the quiet sound of the spectral bell, Mai tried again. The pendulum swung slowly, drawing her with it as it moved across the map. It halted once more, orbiting a completely different spot. Now, it indicated an area some twenty meters away near the wall. Naru scrutinized the spot for a moment. He dug up some of the soil with the shovel and shook his head. "I don't think so."

Mai shrugged. "Maybe I'm just not any good at dowsing. We really shouldn't be listening to that old woman anyway. I'm sure that was just made up."

Naru looked at Mai for a long moment. He leaned on the vehicle nonchalantly, his hands sliding into his pockets. "You may be right, Mai. But… humor me, please. Just a moment."

This seemed a bit suspicious. Naru usually wasn't this polite… Mai watched in puzzlement as her boss put large X-marks on the spots her previous attempts had indicated, then handed her the pendulum. "Again."

Doing as she was told, Mai dowsed a third time. Naru went to check the spot again, still not bothering to dig deeply, and made another mark on the map. Then a fourth. Then a fifth. After a little while, the map was nearly covered in marks and the yard in small holes. "Naru… can we stop this? My arm is getting tired."

"Of course, Mai. Besides, I think we've found the spot now."

Naru picked up the map and put it in his pocket before the meaning of his words sank in. When they did, Mai felt her blood run cold. "W-wait. What? I thought you said none of those spots were right!"

"Of course. But the next time your kitsune spirit decides to throw me off the scent, it should learn to lie convincingly. All I had to do was find the one spot that it _wouldn't_ say was the grave. Come on, we have some digging to do." Naru picked up the shovel and started walking.

The bell was nearly deafening now. Mai tried to concentrate. "Naru! You… you shouldn't do this. We really shouldn't. I don't think there's a grave here at all, and even if there is, it probably isn't involved in this. You can't just—stop! **STOP, **_**HUMAN!**_"

Echoes from Mai's snarling roar bounced off the decrepit walls of the ruined estate. Naru paused and looked back at Mai. Her eyes glowed unearthly blue. Behind her, her nine tails were roiling like clouds in a vicious storm. He nodded to himself and dropped the shovel, walking slowly back to the van, hands stuck carelessly and unthreateningly in his pockets. "I'm sorry, Mai. I didn't realize you felt so strongly about this. You're right. We'll find another way."

With every step her boss took towards her, Mai felt better. Her hackles started to smooth down immediately. "Thank you, Naru. I don't know what came over me. I just… digging up someone doesn't seem right."

"Of course. I guess my desire to solve this got the better of me. I'm sorry… that I have to do this." Naru patted Mai on the shoulder, his touch simultaneously white-hot and icy cold. Mai screamed and tried to shy away, but found herself falling forward instead.

Naru caught the paralyzed girl before she hit the ground and lowered her gently to the soft grass. For good measure, he stuck another of Lin's charms to her other shoulder. It crackled and glowed for a moment, and Mai's furry form jerked again.

Movement was nearly impossible. Mai struggled against her own body, glaring at Naru's retreating figure as she tried to get back up. "Wait! Naru, come back! **COME BACK!**"

Reaching the only unmarked spot on the map, Naru braced himself and started to dig. Mai screamed as soon as the metal tip of the tool bit into the earth. He ignored her. This was necessary. Her voice became louder, more insistent. "**YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING,** Naru-**HUMAN! YOU FOOL, RUSHING TO YOUR DEATH!**"

Naru grunted as the shovel bit deeper. He was building up quite a pile of spoil to one side of the hole. The ground here had clearly been disturbed once before, many years ago. He smiled. Whatever he was going to find here, he was on the right track.

Mai thrashed as best she could, muscles shifting and straining against the iron embrace of her immobilized skin. She could only hear two things—the rhythmic, unstoppable grinding of Naru's shovel against the ground over the grave and the almost frantic ringing of the spectral bell. She cried out again, her voice careening wildly between an anguished scream and a bestial roar. "**DON'T DO IT, YOU IDIOT!** Naru, please! The monk didn't do anything **TO YOU! HE JUST WANTS TO** protect the **VILLAGE!**"

Finally Mai's protests devolved into angry barks and heart-wrenching keening. Naru's shovel clanked dully as it hit something much harder than soil. It was some sort of lid. After clearing the soil away, Naru reached down and heaved. The lid came free with a grinding, rasping sound and some of the softer dirt at the edge of the hole rattled into the revealed opening.

Naru had only moments to behold a shrunken corpse in ancient, moldering robes before the rising musty smell of long-finished decay rose to drive him back from the grave. He gagged and stepped back to take a breath of fresh air.

By the time Naru returned to the exposed grave, the body inside was already crumbling. It had held together so long only by virtue of being protected from the elements. After the disturbance of the hasty exhumation, nothing remained to hold it together. A set of tarnished silver bells jingled faintly as they dropped to the bottom of the grave with the collapsing fragments of bone.

"Sokushinbutsu," Naru muttered as he looked at the pitiful bundle that had once been a man. So _that's_ what he had been facing. What a grotesque death to die. At least now the man could be at peace.

The bells jingled for the last time in Mai's head and stopped. Their absence left a dreadful emptiness that seemed ready to devour everything. The urge to scream suddenly faded, replaced by a single, building wail. Mai sobbed, tears streaming out of her glowing blue eyes. Still frozen where she had been left, the kitsune girl cried her eyes out for a man she had never known.

With slow, measured steps, Naru walked towards Mai's prone form. He frowned. Was her possession unrelated to the departed saint in the pit? He punched the side of the van in frustration. This entire case had had him chasing his tail—chasing Mai's tails. If Lin were here… but he was not. No one was. It was time to change that.

Mai felt careful arms slide under her as Naru reached down and picked her up. Moving carefully, he took her inside the house under what little roof still remained. The kitsune girl was still sobbing gently, although most of her energy seemed to be gone. He leaned down and patted her head. "Stay here, Mai. I'll be back. I'm going to get you some help."

It wasn't as though Mai had much choice. She barely even noticed when Naru walked back outside and the van rumbled back down the poorly maintained road towards the village. She cried for a bit longer and, exhausted, fell asleep.

_Mai watched helplessly. Unable to move, she could only look on in horror as her dream unfolded before her. Naru was seated calmly behind a desk. But of course this was not Naru. The creature with Naru's face looked up and smiled. He got up and looked out his window, contemplating the town before him. He sighed and uttered a single word in a tone that sent icicles down Mai's spine. "_**Finally**."

_The monster turned to a small cupboard and opened it. Row upon row of shining steel glitered in the light. Raising his hands slowly, Naru picked up the implements of death and began secreting them about his body. Finally, only one thing remained—a cruel, straight sword. With the air of a priest putting on his vestments, the creature strapped the sword to his waist. _

_Sliding open the window to his office, Naru simply stepped out, floating down to the ground as lightly as a bird—which, of course, was what he nearly was. Naru landed lightly and straightened once again, raising his arms as he turned in a circle to survey the squat collection of buildings that only an incurable optimist might call a village._

_Still smiling with unnerving calm, Naru walked down the street with the immobile yet floating Mai trailing behind him. All around, puzzled townsfolk were little more than insubstantial shadows as they peered from their windows and porches at the unearthly show before them_

_Naru patted the somehow unnoticed blade at his hip. Soon… soon. But first, he looked up—and directly into the watching Mai's eyes. Terrified, she stared into the grinning, half-familiar face with twin obsidian balls for eyes…_

The slamming of a vehicle door awakened Mai. She tried to sit up—oh right. The charms. She could still feel the twin papers' dead weight on her back, keeping her pressed to the charred floor of the room. She couldn't even see who it was. Fortunately for her, she could smell him. "Naru!"

Naru entered and patted Mai on the head comfortingly, scratching her a bit behind the ears. Why was he being so _nice_ all of a sudden? Had he finally noticed how hard he'd been pushing? "Come on, Mai. We're going to get you some help before we get any further in this case."

"N-naru…" Mai's voice quavered.

"Hmph. None of that. Let's go. I've called Father Brown. He's going to meet us halfway so we can get you exorcized." Patting her again, Naru leaned down to pick Mai up.

The crunch of gravel in the drive made Naru pause. Another car had just pulled in. Leaving the prone Mai, he stepped outside. Mai strained her ears to hear.

Naru greeted the visitor as soon as the new car's door slammed shut. "Hello, Mr. Karasu. Have you come out to survey the damage?"

The realty agent was as jovial as before. "Oh no, Mr. Shibuya. As I told you before, it's not the house I'm worried about. I just felt a change in the air. Surely a good omen, says I! Might be a good time to actually visit. I haven't been out here in ages, you know. Have you found anything interesting? How is the investigation coming?"

Brisk footsteps told Mai that Mr. Karasu was quickly closing the distance between himself and Naru. Naru remained unperturbed. Mai remembered her earlier vision and began to struggle against the imprisoning charms. Oh, _no_.

"We've found an interesting grave on site, Mr. Karasu. If you'd like to see it…"

"'Interesting,' you say? Why of course! As if I wouldn't be interested in your progress. You're certainly costing me enough, ho ho… not that you aren't worth the investment, of course." With that, twin pairs of footsteps faded slightly as Naru and the monster calling himself Karasu went to the grave.

After a moment, Mr. Karasu chuckled. The chuckle became louder and somehow deeper. Mai struggled harder. Smoke rose from the charms on her back. She could hear Naru saying, "Is something funny, sir?"

"Do you know how long it's been? How long I've waited for that fool to finally get what was coming to him? 'Protect the village, even against you,' indeed! Finally, his protection is gone. Years of picking away at the edges is over."

"Mr. Karasu, you don't seem well. I think it's time for you to go." Naru's voice hardened. Mai could imagine the pleasant, bland smile of his 'business face' sliding into an irritated frown. Tiny tongues of blue flame lapped at the corners of the charms, giving Mai's prone form diminutive blue wings of fire.

"Of course. Yes, I agree. It is time. **Now then, human…**" There was an odd sound like the flapping of many wings, and then the metallic rasp of a sword being drawn.

_No!_ The white paper charms disintegrated in a brilliant flash of blue. Mai was on her feet and through the door before the ash had even had a chance to settle. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion but her as she streaked into the yard wreathed in azure flame. She landed and immediately leaped again, this time towards the frozen Naru and the slowly moving tengu.

There was no doubt about it. The sneering, long-nosed red face… the loose green clothing... the featureless, jet-black eyes. Mai landed, knocking Naru to the ground behind her and stood over him protectively. She raised her arms as Mr. Karasu's blade came down in its deadly arc.

Foxfire flared, and the blade clanged harmlessly off the cold flame. The tengu's eyes widened in surprise for a moment… but in a heartbeat the gaping mouth tightened into an amused grin. "**So. I wondered what had happened to you, Jingoro… I thought you were hiding from the ghost hunters, but this! Oooh, this is too much.**"

Naru groaned and pushed himself up. "Mai…"

"Get away from us, Karasu!" Mai snarled, her fiery aura blazing brighter for a moment and forcing the tengu off-balance. She panted, sagging from the exertion.

Mockingly, Mr. Karasu sheathed his sword and bowed slightly. "**Of **_**course**_**, pretender... I'm sorry, where are my manners? Of course, Mai. You're no real threat to me anyway. So, kitsune**_**… **_**how does it feel? How does it feel to know you're trapped helpless in the body of a little human girl while I do what has needed doing for centuries?**"

With a nasty and lingering laugh, Mr. Karasu leaped into the air and disappeared with the sound of flapping wings. Mai's flames guttered and died—none too soon for her smoldering clothing. She patted out the flames and helped Naru to his feet.

Naru looked in the direction of the village, then back to Mai. "He seems to know you. Explain."

Mai shrugged helplessly. "I'm not sure… I think… I think he and the kitsune have a history. And that dead monk, too. I'm not really sure… But the village. The village is in danger!"

Gritting his teeth, Naru started towards the van. "Let's go."

The van's engine labored as it nearly bottomed out going through another pothole. Mai held on for dear life as Naru pulled the vehicle onto the main road and toward town. Her breath caught in her throat as they came over the hill and saw it—the town was on fire. A thick pall of smoke rose from several buildings and… and there were people lying in the street. They seemed so small, almost antlike from this far away… but Mai could tell they weren't moving. She could feel something within her groaning in horror, a sound mirrored in her own throat. "He's already started!"

Faster than thought, Mai leaped. Naru struggled to keep the vehicle on the road as Mai suddenly disappeared from the passenger seat, replaced with a gaping hole in the van roof. Regaining control, he floored the accelerator and kept driving.

There was no wind blowing past Mai's whiskers. She seemed to move in some other world, with only the pale images of the real world around her. Leaping across the terrain without slowing, her tails streaming out behind her, Mai finally landed in the center of town, her much-abused shoes scraping across the pavement as she skidded to a stop. "**KARASU!**"

Karasu straightened, dropping the moaning human he'd been holding aloft. He looked almost genuinely pleased to the panting, sagging kitsune girl before him. Smiling mockingly, he bowed low with false civility. "**Why, Jingoro… You came. Or should I call you Mai? Doesn't matter, of course… not now. But if you'd like to be my audience…**"

Snarling, Mai bounded forward. Her jaws snapped on empty air as the tengu sidestepped her with ease. Karasu drew his sword slowly, almost lazily, relishing the sound as it rasped out of its sheath. "**You never should have sided with that fool. Look at these ungrateful, mewling wretches! They don't even understand what the monk did for them all those years! All those years…**"

In an instant, Karasu was behind Mai. Before she could do more than gasp, he kicked her legs out from under her. She fell heavily with a yelp of surprise. "**To think, all the years I spent trying to destroy this town secretly… buying up all that land… killing off the little humans with their axes and saws as though the forest was angry with them to entice them to leave. Hah! And look at you**…"

Karasu kicked out viciously. Mai rolled, barely avoiding the blow, and struggled to get to her feet. The tengu advanced on her, sword dangling from one hand. "**So weak! ** **Once I would have asked you to join me, Jingoro… but now? Now you DIE!**"

Once again, everything seemed to slow down. Mai felt new energy filling her from somewhere deep within—the kitsune or something else?—and took a deep breath. Brighter than ever before, flame blossomed from the air around her until her body seemed like one giant blue flame. She could smell the acrid stench of burning fabrics as her clothing caught fire, blowing away as so much flaming debris. "**YOU FIRST, TRAITOR!**"

The two creatures met, flame against steel. Mai deflected the singing blade with a slash of one blazing arm and lashed out with her other hand for the tengu's gut. Karasu danced agilely out of the way and threw a small knife. Splashing against the flames, it vaporized harmlessly in the air before it reached Mai's chest.

Mai snarled and leaped again as kitsune and tengu clashed in a dance of death through the town. Mai's claws slashed viciously at Karasu's arm as his sword clipped short a few hairs on her scalp. Rock-boiling flame was met with a slash that blew the fires back harmlessly.

The two seemed evenly matched—but the poisons of fatigue were rapidly soaking into Mai's aching muscles and twanging ligaments. Her breath came ragged as she paused for a moment in the rubble of the store she'd visited earlier that day. Her fires flickered for a moment as she panted. Despite her second wind, she was fast running out of energy.

Karasu landed in the street, his face still set in contemptuous sneer he'd been wearing the entire fight. Was he even breathing hard? Mai couldn't tell as she braced herself against Maki's counter and watched the tengu advance. He sighed. **I'm almost disappointed, Jingoro. Unfortunately, I have places to be and people to kill. And you're in my—**"

The roar of the SPR van's engine interrupted Karasu. He turned to look just as the oncoming vehicle bowled into him, sending the surprised tengu tumbling through the air. He landed hard, cracking the pavement. Before he could recover, the van slammed into reverse. There was a single thump as the van's rear axel ran over him and crushed the green-clad monster's body into the cement.

Naru jumped out of the vehicle and ran towards Mai. He reached out for her. "Mai! Are you-?"

Before Mai could answer, the ear-rending squeal of metal on metal drowned out all other sounds. A panting and bloodied Karasu stood between the two halves of the stricken SPR van. The vehicle's engine sputtered and died. Naru turned, but too slow; the tengu's punch slammed him into a wall. He groaned and went down.

Karasu stood over the fallen human, the fires of hatred burning brightly in his eyes. "**You thought **_**that**_** would stop me? Interfering human. WAIT YOUR TURN.**"

Spitting out blood, Naru glared up at the tengu's wrath-filled face as the creature turned away. He grunted in pain and got to his feet, leaping towards the tengu. The creature sidestepped contemptuously—but not far enough. With a quiet slap, Naru's hand made contact with Karasu's thigh. A small rectangle of paper stuck there. It crackled for a moment, flaring red as it took effect.

"**What… What did you **_**do,**_** human?**" Karasu struggled against the charm. It was already starting to weaken, but for the moment he was frozen in place.

Naru turned to the still sagging Mai. "_Now_, Mai! Quickly, before it wears off!"

Gathering what little was left of her strength, Mai raised her claws, bared her teeth, and lunged at the hated tengu. The world seemed perfectly still and silent, save for—perhaps in her imagination—the silvery jingle of a bell.

Karasu wrenched himself free from the clinging tendrils of the human's charm. Annoying vermin… It would be next, and it would regret its insolence. He looked up to see the possessed girl flying towards him, clawed hands outstretched. Not _this_ again. He nearly rolled his obsidian eyes. Hadn't she learned the first few times?

The tengu was about to raise his sword when brilliant blue flame erupted from the kitsune girl. It streamed out in front of her, faster than thought. Faster than sound. Certainly faster than Karasu. Twisting itself into the many-tailed form of Jingoro, the living flame opened its maw wide. The last thing the shocked tengu saw was row upon row of fiery teeth, growing larger and larger until it filled his world—then nothing at all.

Naru shielded his face against the intense, yet strangely cool blaze erupting from Mai's falling body. Though his eyes were closed, he could see the bones on his hand through his tightly shut lids. By the time his vision cleared, it was over. A crackling black mark on the far wall showed the vague outline of a man in loose-fitting clothing. With arms askew, the man's pose was one of complete surprise.

Mai's crumpled body lay on the cool tile of the floor. She groaned and tried to push herself up. When she opened her eyes, she had to squint against the bright blue flames of the kitsune. It was sitting in front of her, regarding the pale human girl with interest. Mai licked her parched lips and managed, "…The village?"

The kitsune, Jingoro, looked right or left. Fires were burning everywhere. It seemed to stretch up taller for a moment. A breeze blew, and suddenly tongues of flame were twisting through the air away from the buildings. The flames flowed, curving through space until they reached the solid, weaving glow of the kitsune's tails. One by one, the fires around the village winked out, leaving only a rising pall of smoke.

Padding closer to its former host, the kitsune bent low. A cool tongue of flame licked Mai's face, clearing some of the dust and ash away.

Jingoro flickered and was gone before Mai could respond. She pushed herself up to her knees and sat quietly for a few breaths, trying to calm her still rapidly beating heart.

Looking up as Naru approached, Mai found herself smiling crookedly. "We… we did it Naru. Didn't we?"

"Maybe... I think so. And… Mai? Here. You'll be needing this." Carefully avoiding looking directly at her, Naru held out the tattered, much-abused blanket that he had retrieved from the back half of the van.

"Why would I need… Aaaah, oh _no!_" Mai shrieked in embarrassment as she realized why the floor had felt so cool. Once again, she had burned all her clothing off. The blanket covered most of Mai's body, but she could already feel herself beginning to blush.

Mai blushed further as Naru knelt beside her and patted her shoulder comfortingly. With her face a deep crimson, she closed her eyes and let herself lean into his sturdy, warm frame. "Naru…"

"Hmmm?" Naru looked down, but Mai was already asleep.

_It was almost achingly quiet as Mai stepped through the gate and onto the grassy lawn of the decrepit and now partially burned house. The dilapidated old place had seemed a quiet eddy in the river of life. For so long it had been her haven… but now it seemed as battered and wrecked to the eye as she felt in her heart._

_Surveying the ruins, Mai blinked back tears. It was almost too painful to approach the brown earth mound covering the monk's re-interred corpse, but she forced herself forward, step by halting step._

_At the edge of the mound, Mai dropped to her knees and wailed. He was gone. He was _gone!_ The monk had died hundreds of years ago, yet he had remained a constant companion—guiding her; giving her strength as she kept the village safe. Now a leaden silence was all that was left…_

_Mai collapsed forward, her streaming eyes red-rimmed. She buried her face in the soft loam of the small burial mound—and heard a faint metallic jingle. She lifted her head and looked around. Nothing was there. She looked down._

_On top of the freshly closed grave lay a small bracelet. Rough, decaying twine had been looped carefully through several delicate silver bells. The bells rested on the dirt innocently, as though they had always been there. Perhaps Mai simply hadn't noticed them in her grief? She reached out carefully and picked up the bells, almost as though she was afraid they would explode in her hand._

_As Mai grasped the bracelet, the bells jingled softly. She could almost feel the monk's gentle hand stroking her fur… scratching her comfortingly behind the ears. Her eyes filled with tears once again, but now she no longer sagged with hopeless grief. _

_There was an odd sense of dislocation, and Mai found herself looking across the monk's grave at the small, orange-yellow kitsune. She knelt down carefully and watched as Jingoro slipped the ancient bracelet on its right paw. It jingled as the kitsune moved._

_Mai felt like she should say something. "Your friend gone, isn't he? The monk. I'm sorry… we didn't know."_

_Jingoro looked up, almost seeming to smile. Its furry head bobbed in a slight, sad nod._

"_Was the monk helping us? At the end? I thought he was already gone but I felt… I mean…" Mai trailed off. What could she say?_

_The kitsune seemed to understand. "__**Who can know? But, Human… Mai Taniyama... Thank you.**__"_

_Before Mai could respond, Jingoro flared with brilliant blue flame. When the young woman opened her eyes again, the kitsune was gone. Quietly, at the very edge of hearing, a silvery bell jingled, then faded away._


	4. Epilogue

**Ghost Hunt: Fox-Fire: Epilogue**

Fan Fiction by Fernin (yay alliteration)

_Note: This work, unlike most of mine, contains no explicit nudity, no sex, and no profanity. It does, however, include some violence, mostly of a non-graphic nature. So if you get offended by PG movies, this is probably not for you. Otherwise, Read on, MacDuff. Oh, and I don't own Ghost Hunt. Obviously._

* * *

><p>A lot can change in several days. The streets of the village were mostly clear of rubble, and the rising smoke had long since blown off into the atmosphere. Despite the destruction that had so recently visited it, the remaining citizens of the town—incredibly, only one or two had been seriously injured—were clearly working hard to restore normalcy. Oddly, the only building that did not seem to be getting any attention was the blasted remnants of the former Karasu Realty office. Strange, that.<p>

Father John Brown gave a low whistle of amazement as Lin maneuvered the car down the main—that is, the only—street in the town. "Blimey, Lin… someone sure did a number on _this_ place."

As the Australian expected, the driver continued in silence. If Father Brown hadn't had his bible to read and the Lord to talk to, he would have felt entirely alone the entire trip. Catching sight of a familiar face, he pointed. "Hey, Lin—there they are now! Off to the right, there."

Lin nodded and brought the car to a stop. Father Brown climbed out in time to receive an almost bone-crushing hug from Mai. "John! And Lin! Thank you so much for coming!"

The priest watched Mai in confusion. She didn't _seem_ possessed… He looked in askance to Kazuya Shibuya. "Is she…"

"No… we already solved that. Is this how fast you _usually_ respond when your friends are in mortal danger?" As usual 'Naru' wasn't pulling any punches.

John waved his arms placatingly. "Now, don't be like that! I was at an exorcism conference at the Vatican! It took me two days of plane-hopping just to get back here! I'm just glad you two are all right."

Naru simply grunted in response and turned to Lin. "Lin, I need to speak to you for a moment."

As Naru and Lin stepped off to the side, John accosted Mai. "Now look, Mai! What's all this about? I got this urgent call from Kazuya at an ungodly hour—and believe me, I know what I'm talking about there—demanding that I come back right away to save your life! What gives?"

Mai shrugged helplessly. "It's been one of those cases. I'm sorry for the way Naru treated you… Tell you what, I'll give you the whole story on the ride back."

"Kazuya won't mind?" The priest looked skeptical.

"Oh no… I think we've reached an understanding, him and I." Mai grinned knowingly.

Naru broke in on the conversation suddenly. "Ah, Mai… Lin and I were just talking. I needed his help looking at the damage to Shibuya Psychic Research's equipment. Lin?"

"About seventy-eight million yen," the Chinese assistant said with a nod.

Looking in mystification from one to the other, Mai repeated the number. "Seventy…eight… million?"

Uncharacteristically talkative, Lin started ticking off items on his fingers. "The amount you owe the company for destruction of property and equipment. The cameras and other sensors in the house you burned… the damage to the company van… of course, the cost of the clothing destroyed and food consumed can be written off easily, so you won't have to worry about that…"

"I... Now wait a minute! You've told me that all equipment was ensured!" Mai's accusing finger wavered between Naru and Lin. Both men stood impassively, their arms crossed.

"Have you ever heard of insurance that covers _everything_, Mai? I don't think I'm going to be able to convince the insurance company to pay for 'van cut in half by sword-wielding tengu.' Do you?" Naru shook his head in irritation.

"No… no way… I'm going to have to go sit down for a minute. I think I'll… I'll pick up my bag." In a daze, Mai stumbled back to the house where she and Naru had been staying for the past few days. In her mind, little yen symbols circled her, laughing and chanting 'seventy eight million' over and over again.

John looked from one impassive face to the other. "You two are kidding, right? …Right?"

Lin coughed and turned away, covering his mouth with his hand. Naru merely smiled.

The priest scowled. "I don't think that's very funny at all. Shame on you, pulling her leg like that."

Naru's smile widened and he shrugged. "She'll recover. She's a strong girl."


End file.
